Composite chair member



pt. 25, 1934. u. K. JQHANNSEN 1,975,062 I COMPOSITE CHAIR MEMBER Filed Oct. 27, 1932 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 p 25,1934. u. K. JOHANNSEN 1,975,062 I COMPOS ITE CHAIR MEMBER Filed Oct. 27, 1952 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 LIJM WIJE l l I I 52 .lliI I I IV I 41 I I I I/ I I l 31 I I IV UDO K. JOHAHHSEN Ennentor attorney Patented Sept. 25, 1934 water PATENT. refs COMPOSITE CHAIR MEMBER Udo K. Johannsen, Cortland, N. Y., assignor to The Brewer-Titchener Corporation, Cortland, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application October 27, 1932, Serial No. 639,796

4 Claims.

The present invention broadly relates to improvements in furniture framework members or the like, each comprising a tubular metal sheath arranged to partially incase a relatively light weight, pliant filler medium therein, therespective members being preferably fabricated from a bodily bendable, composite product of any desired profile size that is initially formed up into rectilinear stock lengths. The sheath of such striplike product may be kept peripherally incomplete to provide a longitudinally disposed access gap which facilitates nailing or the like attachment to the penetrable filler medium. The exemplification herein disclosed has been more specifically applied to a portable folding chair, in which my sheath embraced filler constitutes an inbuilt silencing means or sound deadening agency for such bodily shiftable metallic framework when knocked about in service. the sheathed filler members may be utilized to fixedly or movably fasten certain adjoining chair or similar elements therethrough. The present disclosure further teaches how columnlike composite members may be pivotally interconnected and advantageously incorporated to attain the maximum of lateral rigidity for any given crosssectional area and stock weight, particularly when a scissor pair of such struts are cooperatively subjected to a relatively heavy direct end thrust.

member of the character indicated which can be economically produced and shall be comparatively light but rigid, also one that readily allows of bodily bending said striplike product into arcuate or twisted pattern to fulfill the needs of artistic furniture shapes. A further important object is to produce a metal folding chair orthe like portable furniture in which the inherent tendency towards resonance or other disagreeable metallic 4o clatter shall be materially deadened and in which the structural members may be held to the minimum of size and weight for any prescribed loading requirements. Embodied herein are other structural features designed to facilitate the adaptation of said filler incased sheaths to chair and other furniture purposes, all of which aspects will more explicitly be set forth hereinafter.

Reference is had to the annexed two sheets of drawings which are illustrative of certain embodiments of my invention, and in which drawings:

Fig. 1 represents a perspective view of my foldable chair as it appears when set up into open position, while Fig. 2 is a side View thereof which in dotted outline, indicates a pivotal mode for *col1apsing the seat panel.

The respective access gaps of- An object is to provide for a compositeframe,

Fig. 3 shows an elevational side view of saidchair when fully collapsed, and Fig. 4 a front view thereof.

Fig. 5 represents an enlarged transverse section of the composite stock material used in making a (30 bent up rear leg as taken along line 55 of Fig. 4.

Fig. 6 depicts an enlarged foot view of the frontleg, and Fig. '7 .a cross-section as seen along line. 7-7 of Fig. 6.

Fig. 8 illustrates an improved fulcrum disposition for my pivotally crossed legs as taken along the section line 8-8 of Fig. 3, while Fig. 9 is a fragmental, elevational edge View of said complementary legs.

Fig. 10 shows a further chair detail'taken along 1 the section line 1G-l0 of Fig. 4.

Figs. 11 and 12 respectively disclose fragmental cross-sections of alternative seat panel constructions to which my composite strips have been applied.

, Fig. 13 represents a perspective view of a mod ified folding chair or stool in which said strips have also been incorporated, and Fig. 14 is a crosssectional detail taken along line 14-14 of Fig, 13.

Fig. 15 shows an alternative style of filler sheath.

Attention wfll first be directed to the structural features afforded by the bendable, compos- 4 ite material which it is my purpose to apply in; building up a furniture or the like framework. As cross-sectionally represented in Fig. 5, this stock material may comprise a fibrous filler strip I 10 which is preferably given a uniform rectangular profile throughout its length, but it may also assume a circular or other modified contour. Said 4 filler medium may be made of solid wood that admits of easy penetration by the use of tacks,- screws or the like fasteners, or maycomprise a series of superimposed laminations thereof whichare almost wholly embraced and held together by the incasing metal sheath 11 without need of supplementary securing means. Such pliantmaterial may also consist of any kind of sheeting or the like filamentary substance suitable for filler purposes, among such may be cited shredded leather or the cheaper fibrous substitutes thereof including paper in bulk or sheets, laid in either wrapped, folded, stranded, twisted formation or bundled in any layerlike courses to constitute the equivalent of a laminated filler medium. If desired, a supplementary sheet fibre retaining element (see Fig. 15) may be disposed to immediately underlie and bridge the inturned sheath edges and thereby protectively conceal the remainder of such laminated filler medium.

Said composite product is preferably fabricated in strips of standardized stock sizes. To this end, straight metal sheath lengths may be initially rolled into suitable channel shape or trough profile adapted to receive a pliant filler strip therein, whereupon the channel legs 13 are respectively crimped over opposite edges of the assembled filler, the inturned sheath edges being preferably but not necessarily, kept spaced apart to constitute an access gap 12 therebetween, as shown. This composite stock product may be bodily bent or otherwise shaped in a cold state without steaming to form a relatively sharp curvature with respect to the longitudinal sheath axis. Such bending operation is facilitated by the use of the aforesaid laminated filler medium because the divided components thereof are allowed to slip relative to each other along their respective cleavages. The comparatively rigid metal incasement is relied upon to confine the pliant filler and maintain the same in the desired bent shape.

It is further preferred to tightly roll down the inturned sheath edges 13 upon the embraced filler 10 to constitute a compact and virtually homogeneous filler body capable of augmenting the lateral rigidity of such composite product as a whole. The described composite stock provides for a relatively light and low cost structural agency possessing a comparatively large measure of inherent strength and rigidity over that afforded by the conventional, unsheathed wooden or unfilled sheet metal frame member of corresponding overall size. My sheathed stock product offers an additional advantage in that 'it may readily be secured to contiguous framework members by means of rivets or the like fastening means without splitting or relying upon the use of glued joints. tribute, said filler medium acts in the capacity of an inherent sound deadening agency, particularly as applied to the fioor contacting end of shiftable metallic chair legs which are prone to emit a distracting noise when roughly handled during normal usage.

Having defined the characteristics of such com posite product, different modes of applying the same to furniture purposes will now be pointed out. Referring to Figs. to 10 inclusive, this particular style of folding chair may comprise a pair of parallelly spaced front legs such as 14 which are made up from a continuous piece of such stock, this member being medially bent to form a rounded interconnecting yoke region 15 of which the access gap is preferably faced radially inward to afford an unbroken trim or surface finish for the sheath exterior. A pair of rear legs 16 are likewise fabricated from such a composite strip by similarly bending said stock into bow or U shape but which is reversely disposed to constitute an interconnecting foot section 1'7. Said rear legs or strut members, are mounted in an outwardly straddled relation to the front legs or complementary strut members and respectively pivoted together in scissorlike fashion. As shown in Fig. 8, a joint of this kind may comprise a headed fulcrum pin 19 of which the rivet shank extends through both leg sheaths and also the respective fillers thereof. An interposed spacer bush 20 is arranged to span the gap between the inturned edges of the front leg sheath and a reenforcing leg strap 21 cooperates with the innermost rivet end in overlapping relation to the rear leg access gap. It will be observed that the outermost un-' broken sheath face when backed by its incased filler, serves in lieu of a washer against which the As an outstanding atfree rivet end may be upset. While the filler is here represented by plain cross-hatching, its characteristics are identical with those defined in connection with Fig. 5.

Intermediate the yoke 15 and the fulcrum 19, each front leg is further equipped with a panel pivot clip 22 adapted to mount the seat member therebetween. This frame member may be constructed in any suitable manner, either with a metal fianged, fibre board panel 23 such as is revealed by broken outline in Fig. 1, or this may be of the more elaborate upholstered type represented in Figs. 11 and 12. To enhance the panel trim, my composite chair frames may be bodily dipped in japan enamel to finish the same in a contrasting color scheme relative to the fibre board 23.

The lowermost free extremities of the front legs may be fixedly interconnected and reinforced by the rung 24 which is shown secured to the respective leg fillers by the through rivet 18.

Said rung constitutes a subtended tie piece that is set inwardly from the respective leg tips. Each such leg tip iscut off on a bias in order that the unfolded chair may bear squarely upon the floor. Mounted directly beneath each beveled,

leg face, is a rubber cushioning pad 25 that is interposedbetween and protectively held in place bythe use of oneor more round headed metallic tacks or so called chair glides 26 including 2. prong that is driven endwise into the metal encased filler as shown in Figs. 6 and '7.

The bent yoke or arch portion 15 may be pro vided with an insetback panel 27 made of fibre board material, which may be cut and dished to snugly fit the innermost contour given to said yoke. For securement purposes, I provide for a, sheet metal beading strip 28 of the folded type as in Fig. 10, of which the respective free longitudinal plate edges are offset in spaced relation to constitute a groove 29 adapted to receive.

and fixedly retain the perimeter of the back panel.

The apertured plate portion of said strip is dis-: posed to bridge its contiguous sheathgap and may be fastened to the incased filler by the use v separately interconnected to a forward region of.

the unfolded seat panel by means of a link 31. To facilitate link securement to my filler reenforced sheath, it is preferred to extend the leg strap 21 upwardly into engagement with the link pivot 32, which latter is preferably entered through the filler and its sheath in the mannerrepresented by Fig. 9. Each such strap may'also be carried downwardly from the leg fulcrum 19 to have a trusslike brace strap 33 mounted there- 1,

across, this being preferably arranged into a cross shape serving to cooperatively stifien the:

entire leg structure against heavy lateral chair thrust or side tilt.

Referring to Fig. 11, this fragmental disclosure represents a section of an annular or endless seat frame 34 comprising a sheath encased filler that is bent up into hoop shape as made from.

composite strip stock. In order to tie together the abutting strip ends 35, I may employ a perforated keeper strap or staple means 36 that is preferably inset into the access gap and cooperatively secured to the respective filler ends by prongs and screws, vor'the like fasteners. Spanning the upstanding hoop edge of said frame is a-panel 37 adapted to mounta cushioning pad 38 thereon. Said pad may in turn be snugly covcred by a stretched upholstery fabric 39 of which the border region is shown carried beneath and interiorly of the seat frame for attachment to its filler medium by means of tacks 40 or the like. In the overlapping keeper region of said fabric, the tacks 40 may be unobstructedly entered through the slotted perforations of the keeper strap.

In Fig. 12 there is depicted an alternative seat frame in which a different sheath profile is utilized for panel mounting purposes. Here the I rectangular filler member 41 is encased by a a manner similar to the previously described pivi another kind of longitudinally spaced access apermodified metallic sheath 42 having a ledge strip 43 associated with one of the inturned sheath edges. Resting thereon, is an upholstered panel 44 that may be secured to said ledge by screws 45 or the like. The uppermost link pivot 46 may be overhangingly attached to such seat frame through its filler in the manner indicated.

Reference is now had to Fig. 13 showing another type of folding chair or stool of which the scissorlike leg elements 47 and 48 have likewise been fashioned from my composite product, each having an oval profile and respectively bent up to form a rectangular looped or other closed configuration, preferably having the access gaps thereof faced inwardly. The abutting sheath ends may be welded together or the incased filler 'may be fixedly adjoined at 49 by keeper means.

The crossed front and rear leg frame dimensions are of a different size such that they may fall within one another in a common plane and which frames are oppositely fulcrumed at 50 in ot means 19. A foldable strip of seat canvas extends across the uppermost transverse bar regions of said complementary leg elements, the respective strip ends being folded thereunder and tacked to the exposed filler thereof in a fashion shown in Fig. 14. The lower extremities of the front and rear legs are respectively interconnected by inset transverse bars to provide for a four point floor contact.

As a further refinement, said stool may be equipped with an inverted U-shaped back member 51 or the like supplementary member having its respective leg extremities pivotally atvtached at 52 to one of the leg frames, the lateral to limit the rearward tilt of the unfolded back of this stool.

It is also within the scope of my invention to impart to the inturned marginal edges of my .sheath, a modified contour other than the described rectilinear edge.

As an illustrative example, reference is made to Fig. 15 where one or both of the opposite sheath edges may be given an undulated indentation and brought into abutting relation, thereby again providing for tures 61 for tacking purposes. This substantially closed sheath, serves to more compactly confine a fibrous filler medium 10 without tend- ,1 ency to bulge outwardly through such plural gaps. Where gaps of larger dimension are to be used, like filler retaining results may be had by resort to an underlying tack-penetrable, bridge strip designated as 62. As a further variant, said sheath may also be fabricated from initially perforated sheet metal having a series of punched holes 63 therethrough.

It is believed that the foregoing disclosure taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, will teach how to apply the defined filler incased sheath stock to chair, furniture, automobile body or the like purposes. When chairs so equipped are moved about or allowed to collide in service, the defined anti-rattle filler medium serves to cushion the impact and silence the disturbing noise or clatter that is commonly encountered in roughly handling a quantity of all-metal chairs. In addition, my access gap provides a convenient and effective means for adjoining cooperating elements to a sheather filler type of frame and which latter otherwise affords a sound structural basis capable of meeting contemplated requirements at low production costs. Other advantages inherent in my improved mode of furniture fabrication, are thought apparent to those skilled in this art, it being understood that I reserve the right to substantially modify the illustrative embodiments thereof, all without departing from the spirit and scope of my invention heretofore described and more particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a portable chair, a bow shaped member that terminates in a pair of floor contacting leg ends said member being fabricated from a single piece of composite stock of uniform crosssectional profile to comprise a longitudinally continuous but perimetrically incomplete metallic sheath having its longitudinal edges spaced apart to provide for a gap located interiorly and lengthwise of said bow shaped member and which sheath incases therein a pliant filler medium embodied as an inherent sound deadening agency, a reenforcing tiepiece subtended across said pair of leg ends, and fastening means securing the tiepiece in place, said means being fixedly adjoined to the filler medium and leaving the leg ends unobstructed.

2. In a portable chair, a bow shaped member that terminates in a pair of floor contacting leg ends which member comprises a longitudinally continuous but perimetrically incomplete metallic sheath provided with an access gap, a fastener receiving filler medium snugly incased within said sheath as an inherent sound deadening agency, a reenforcing tiepiece subtended across said leg end regions and fixedly secured thereto, grooved plate means mounted to overlie said gap and span the incomplete sheath edges, fasteners entered through said gap and securing the plate to the filler medium, and a panel having a marginal edge inset into the groove of the aforesaid plate means.

3. In a portable folding chair structure, complementary bow shaped members of which one such member terminates in floor contacting leg ends which in erected chair position rest thereon, each such member comprising a longitudinally continuous but perimetrically incomplete metallic sheath, a separate pliant filler medium incased within each such member as an inherent sound deadening agency, and fulcrum means pivotally interconnecting the complementary members intermediate the respective ends thereof, said fulcrum being mounted through both of the filler media.

4. In a portable folding chair structure, a pair of crossed strut members, each such member comprising a longitudinally continuous but perimetrically incomplete metallic sheath of which the opposite edges are respectively inturned toward each other, a separate filler me- 

